To exercise the rational faculty; to deduce inferences from premises; to perform the process of deduction or of induction; to ratiocinate; to reach conclusions by a systematic comparison of facts.

reason(Verb)

Hence: To carry on a process of deduction or of induction, in order to convince or to confute; to formulate and set forth propositions and the inferences from them; to argue.

reason(Verb)

To converse; to compare opinions.

reason(Verb)

To arrange and present the reasons for or against; to examine or discuss by arguments; to debate or discuss.

I reasoned the matter with my friend.

reason(Verb)

To support with reasons, as a request.

reason(Verb)

To persuade by reasoning or argument.

to reason one into a belief; to reason one out of his plan

reason(Verb)

To overcome or conquer by adducing reasons.

to reason down a passion

reason(Verb)

To find by logical process; to explain or justify by reason or argument.

to reason out the causes of the librations of the moon

Origin: From raisun ( raison), from rationem, an accusative of ratio, from ratus, past participle of reor.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Reason(noun)

a thought or a consideration offered in support of a determination or an opinion; a just ground for a conclusion or an action; that which is offered or accepted as an explanation; the efficient cause of an occurrence or a phenomenon; a motive for an action or a determination; proof, more or less decisive, for an opinion or a conclusion; principle; efficient cause; final cause; ground of argument

Reason(noun)

the faculty or capacity of the human mind by which it is distinguished from the intelligence of the inferior animals; the higher as distinguished from the lower cognitive faculties, sense, imagination, and memory, and in contrast to the feelings and desires. Reason comprises conception, judgment, reasoning, and the intuitional faculty. Specifically, it is the intuitional faculty, or the faculty of first truths, as distinguished from the understanding, which is called the discursive or ratiocinative faculty

Reason(noun)

due exercise of the reasoning faculty; accordance with, or that which is accordant with and ratified by, the mind rightly exercised; right intellectual judgment; clear and fair deductions from true principles; that which is dictated or supported by the common sense of mankind; right conduct; right; propriety; justice

Reason(noun)

ratio; proportion

Reason(noun)

to exercise the rational faculty; to deduce inferences from premises; to perform the process of deduction or of induction; to ratiocinate; to reach conclusions by a systematic comparison of facts

Reason(noun)

hence: To carry on a process of deduction or of induction, in order to convince or to confute; to formulate and set forth propositions and the inferences from them; to argue

Reason(noun)

to converse; to compare opinions

Reason(verb)

to arrange and present the reasons for or against; to examine or discuss by arguments; to debate or discuss; as, I reasoned the matter with my friend

Reason(verb)

to support with reasons, as a request

Reason(verb)

to persuade by reasoning or argument; as, to reason one into a belief; to reason one out of his plan

Reason(verb)

to overcome or conquer by adducing reasons; -- with down; as, to reason down a passion

Reason(verb)

to find by logical processes; to explain or justify by reason or argument; -- usually with out; as, to reason out the causes of the librations of the moon

Origin: [Cf. F. raisonner. See Reason, n.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Reason

Reason is the capacity for consciously making sense of things, applying logic, for establishing and verifying facts, and changing or justifying practices, institutions, and beliefs based on new or existing information. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, mathematics, and art, and is normally considered to be a definitive characteristic of human nature. The concept of reason is sometimes referred to as rationality and sometimes as discursive reason, in opposition to intuitive reason.
Reason or "reasoning" is associated with thinking, cognition, and intellect. Reason, like habit or intuition, is one of the ways by which thinking comes from one idea to a related idea. For example, it is the means by which rational beings understand themselves to think about cause and effect, truth and falsehood, and what is good or bad.
In contrast to reason as an abstract noun, a reason is a consideration which explains or justifies some event, phenomenon or behaviour. The ways in which human beings reason through argument are the subject of inquiries in the field of logic.
Reason is closely identified with the ability to self-consciously change beliefs, attitudes, traditions, and institutions, and therefore with the capacity for freedom and self-determination.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Reason

in philosophy is more than mere understanding or reasoning power; it is the constitutive and regulative soul of the universe assumed to live and breathe in the inner life or soul of man, as that develops itself in the creations of human genius working in accord with and revealing the deep purpose of the Maker.

Reason

in German Vernunft, defined by Dr. Stirling "the faculty that unites and brings together, as against the understanding," in German Verstand, "the faculty that separates, and only in separation knows," and that is synthetic of the whole, whereof the latter is merely analytic of the parts, sundered from the whole, and without idea of the whole, the former being the faculty which construes the diversity of the universe into a unity or the one, whereas the latter dissolves the unity into diversity or the many.